Review by Daz Gale
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A classic story has travelled to National Theatre this week as The Grapes Of Wrath sets up home on the Lyttlelton stage. An enduring story that has been a part of many people’s lives for multiple generations, would this new production of Frank Galati’s stage adaptation live up to the legacy of the story and bear the fruits of its labour?
First published by John Steinbeck in 1939, the stage adaptation from Frank Galati premiered in 1988, making its way to Broadway in 1990 where it won a Tony award for best play. Set in The Great Depression in America in the 1930s, it sees the Joad family preparing to travel west in the hope of finding work and a new life in California. As they embark on their long and troublesome journey, they find their lives changing along the way with not all family members making it to their destination.
Frank Galati’s adaptation takes Steinbeck’s original story and translates it to the stage effortlessly. A dark story that is depressing in multiple places, the flutters of optimism, particularly in the first act perfectly demonstrates the complexities and contradictions of life, bringing the Joads to life along with their hopes, dreams and disappointment. The result is a timeless story which strikes in to the very essence of humanity and the hopes of making something better of our lives.
While the original text remains a classic, this production does not quite manage to match those dizzy heights. Poor pacing and strange choices had me struggling to connect with the story as much as I tried to, with the production feeling cold and emotionless to me. Carrie Cracknell’s direction shows moments of promise with some clever ideas throughout, but this proves to be inconsistent with many other moments throughout the play feeling confused and never quite landing. At times, The Grapes Of Wrath felt a little too rough around the edges as if this production hadn’t quite found its feet yet and hadn’t reached its full potential. With a few cancelled performances leading to a delayed press night, I did wonder if this was a factor and a bit more time was needed to pull everything together – a feeling that was amplified from cast members losing their timing and falling over lines in the first act.
Alex Eales set design takes a fairly sparse stage that evokes comparisons to the Dust bowl the Joad’s escape from and does this to great effect with great transformations, ensuring the tone and stage is still muted and dark but visually interesting. One great moment where a river suddenly appears on stage showed the direction and design coming together at their best, while other effects and the realisation of the Joad family truck were other design highlights. Not every visual element worked though with the use of a large screen seemingly adding nothing to the mix and sticking out for the wrong reasons.
This production of The Grapes Of Wrath has a use of incidental music with original songs written and performed by Maimuna Memon, who may be familiar to many from appearing in Standing At The Sky’s Edge at National Theatre last year. A fantastic talent with a stunning singing voice, to be honest I’m unsure how much they added to the story, feeling quite random in their insertion and at times being jarring when taking you out of the main story. The exception to this was one scene where music tied in to the story in a surprisingly joyous and fantastically executed sequence featuring great movement direction from Ira Mandela Siobhan.
The Grapes Of Wrath features a large and talented cast but, sadly, did feature some uneven performances as not all cast members were able to convincingly take on their characters or form an authentic connection. The performances that did connect, however, were fantastic to witness, though this did also highlight weaknesses elsewhere. Natey Jones proved to be a standout among the cast as Jim Casy in a big performance that threatened to steal any scene he was in and convey the emotive nature of his story more authentically than other elements managed. Harry Treadaway took on one of the meatiest roles in the family as Tom Joad in a consistently captivating performance, with Tucker St Ivany another highlight as Al Joad.
The most memorable performance of the production belongs to Cherry Jones, who delivered a sensational turn as the family matriarch, Ma Joad. Jones perfectly found the balance between giving an understated performance while being a dominating and ever-present force. She perfectly demonstrated the conflicted feelings of her hope and heartbreak as she battled optimism with a gritty realism that threatened to defeat her. This led to a performance that lifted the production to an extent that made you forget the less than strong elements found elsewhere.
This production of The Grapes Of Wrath has plenty of potential, but hasn’t quite reached it yet. It’s quite fitting that the journey of this production, for me, mirrors that of the story itself in that it goes on a journey to find something better but gets lost with some twists along the way, never quite managing to lift itself out of the darkness. There are many reasons to love this production with some inspired choices and stunning performances. However, it is one of the more inconsistent plays I have seen this year with its strengths incredibly strong but its obvious weaknesses letting it down substantially. The heart of this production is clearly in the right place but its failure to connect and take on the themes of the human spirit effectively prevents it from impacting effectively in its present form. Perhaps this should be considered one wrong turn along the road to theatre glory. If it continues on its journey during its run at the Lyttlelton, I have no doubt it can get to where it needs to be.
The Grapes Of Wrath plays at the Lyttlelton Theatre until 14th September. Tickets from www.nationaltheatre.org.uk
Photos by Richard Hubert Smith